Network Rail: Digbeth put on photographic map

1 November 2012

Newcastle-upon-Tyne may be famous for its five bridges but Digbeth has been put on the photographic map with five arches. A photograph by Redditch photographer Gethin Thomas showing a series of five railway arches disappearing into the distance like the reflections in a mirror has been selected as runner up in a national photography competition.

The arches are located between Milk Street and Trent Street in Digbeth and carry the main rail lines in and out of Birmingham’s Moor Street station.

Gethin said: “I was really pleased to receive a commended for my entry in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year competition 2012, Urban View, as it is such a prestigious event and this is only the second time I have entered.

“The photo was taken on a walk around the old area of Digbeth in Birmingham and the view of all the arches receding was a lucky one as a few paces forward or back and I wouldn’t have noticed it when I looked right. I was also lucky with the light and the position of the sun which lit up all the interior parts of the arches. It should be interesting for passengers to see what they travel over every day.”

The Network Rail Lines in the Landscape award is part of the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, which attracted more than 500 entries from across Britain.

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Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “By far the majority of photographs entered in the Lines in the Landscape category were quite conventional, because they featured railway lines.

“Gethin’s entry was different because in this case, they were the architectural lines represented by the series of receding railway arches.”

This is the third year that Network Rail has supported the competition where amateurs and professional photographers highlight the very best imagery of Britain’s rural and urban scenery. Once again, the best images will be displayed at a free exhibition at the National Theatre in London from 12 November.

Charlie Waite, renowned landscape photographer and founder of the competition selected 10 runners up for the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape Award, including images of a train passing next to the rooftops of houses in Halifax and the memorable Jubilee pageant as a train crosses the River Thames. These images, along with the overall winner, will be exhibited at the National Theatre and appear in a book of the very best of this year’s entries.

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